Southwest Airlines Plane Makes Emergency Landing After Window Cracks

On Wednesday morning, the pilot of a Southwest Airlines plane bound for Newark decided to operate an emergency landing after one of the plane’s windows cracked mid-flight. The jet was carrying 73 passengers plus the flight crew. No one was injured during the incident.

Southwest Airline Plane Taken Out of Commission Following Wednesday’s Emergency Landing

According to a Southwest Airlines spokesperson, on Wednesday, at 9:53 a.m., the Southwest 957 flight from the Midway International Chicago bound for Newark’s airport took off without any incident. After approximately 20 minutes, the pilots contacting the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport about making an emergency landing.

Based on the incident’s report, while gliding at 33,000 feet, the flight crew observed that one the Boing 737’s window had several cracks. To avert a catastrophic incident, the pilots decided to divert the jet to Cleveland.

At 10:46 a.m., the Southwest Airlines jet safely landed on the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Following the incident, all passengers we directed to another plane and continued the scheduled flight to Newark.

The twin-engine Boing 737 was taken out of commission, and a Federal Aviation Administration committee arrived to inspect the cracked window.

The latest incident involving a cracked window couldn’t have come at a worse time, considering that, last month, a 43-year-old passenger died after being sucked out the window. FAA determined that the window was cracked by the debris jettisoned by one of the jet’s engine.

Since the Riordan incident, plan tickets sales have dropped considerably, the company losing somewhere between $50 and $100 million.

Conclusion

In response to the incident, Robert Mann, an aviation consultant, declared that there are ways to prevent such accident. As part of the plane’s maintenance, technicians are required to polish each window at a regular interval to prevent the formation of small cracks that could endanger the glass’s integrity. The FAA will determine if a human error was involved in this incident.